


Halloween

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: High School AU, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:41:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack gets sick on Halloween, and refuses to let it ruin his plans with Alex.





	Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in their senior year of high school.

Everyone who knew Alex knew that Halloween was his favorite holiday. He always had a great costume planned out and went to at least one party every Halloweekend. This year, him and his best friend, Jack, were seniors in high school, and decided to wear coordinating friend costumes to a Halloween party. Well, Alex decided that they should do that, and Jack went along with it, since Alex looked so excited when he suggested this idea. Halloween was on a Friday night that year, and Alex managed to get the two of them invited to the biggest costume party that was being thrown by one of their classmates. Alex had been telling Jack about how excited he was for this night for practically the entire month of October. He didn’t express this as clearly as Alex did, but Jack was excited that he could be a part of this with his best friend. When he woke up on the morning of October 31st feeling achy and feverish, frustration ran through his body. He didn’t want to let his body getting the flu on the worst day possible ruin Alex’s night. As much as he wanted to stay home from school to try and sleep this off, he knew his mom wouldn’t let him go out that evening if he was too sick to go to school. He also figured that if Alex knew, he’d make them cancel their plans, and that he would probably be mad at Jack for messing up their plans. After taking a deep breath, Jack got out of his bed and walked over to his bathroom. He shivered due to no longer being wrapped up in his blanket but did his best to ignore it. He took a quick shower, which ended up making him feel even worse. Once he was finally dressed, he took the thermometer out of the medicine cabinet and turned it on. It ended up reading 101.4, causing Jack to let out a groan. This turned out to be a bad choice, because it sent him into a painful coughing fit. Once he was able to calm himself down, he grabbed his backpack and keys, and went out to his car. He was very grateful that his commute was rather short, because the pounding headache that he had acquired made driving a huge challenge. Once he got to school, there were about ten minutes until his first class would start. It was a senior English class, and the one thing that Jack liked about it, was that Alex was in it with him. Alex was already in his seat when Jack walked in and flashed a smile at Jack.  
“Hey dude, I’m so excited for tonight! I think you’ll like the costumes I picked out for us,” Alex said, practically bursting with excitement. Alex had decided to make their costumes a surprise for Jack, dropping subtle hints about what they were all month.  
“I’m excited too, dude,” Jack replied, his voice raspier than he expected it to be.  
“Are you alright, man?” Alex asked, sounding concerned.  
“Yeah, just a little something in my throat, no big deal,” Jack said, trying to clear his throat.  
“Are you sure? You look a bit tired, actually,” Alex observed.  
“Yeah, I’m all good. I was up practically all night cramming for the precal test that I have fifth period,” Jack lied.  
“Oh okay, well you better be well rested enough for tonight. This party is going to be so insane, it’s definitely going to be a super late night. Man, I’m so excited that Halloween is on a Friday this year. And, it’s our senior year, how perfect is that?” Alex exclaimed.  
“So perfect,” Jack replied with a small smile. Their class began right after this. Jack normally didn’t really care about his English class very much but having to hear about what was going on in To Kill A Mockingbird and why it was important with the migraine that he currently had made it much worse than usual. Once the class was over, Alex said he’d see Jack at lunch before leaving for his next class. There were four more classes until they had lunch, and Jack was dreading all of them. He almost fell asleep in his second period, he had a big coughing fit in his third class, which earned him glares from all his classmates, and even the teacher. His headache was significantly worse by his fourth period, it felt like his head was going to explode. He got to his fifth class and was given the test that he knew he had. He went back and fourth from not being able to breathe through his nose, to it running so much that he had to use his sleeve to stop it. His stomach also had started to cramp up, and his throat was feeling more and more raw throughout the hour. He already wasn’t very good with the Law of Cosines but being sick made all of it even harder to focus on. When he got to lunch, he felt his phone vibrate. His mom had sent him a text, saying that her and Jack’s dad were going to be out from when he got home from school until late that night. Jack was very happy about this, because then his mom wouldn’t be able to catch him, and see how sick he was, and mess up his plans with Alex. Staying home definitely sounded more appealing to him at this point since he did feel pretty miserable, but there was no way that he was going to let his best friend down over this. He found Alex sitting outside, starting his lunch. He walked over to where he was and sat down next to him.  
“Hey Jack, how’s your day been?” Alex asked, before taking a bite of his sandwich.  
“Pretty long, I just want the day to be over,” Jack replied.  
“Me too, because then we’ll be closer to being able to go to that party! I’ll come to your house around six thirty, and maybe we can eat something at your house before we head out?” Alex suggested.  
“Sure, but I don’t know if we have any good food at my house, to be honest,” Jack replied.  
“I can pick something up on the way over, maybe McDonalds? I’m on a bit of a budget,” Alex offered, laughing a bit. Jack gave him a thumbs up before coughing.  
“Woah are you okay dude?” Alex asked, putting his hand on Jack’s back until the fit went away.   
“Yeah, just a little tickle in my throat, no worries,” Jack lied.  
“Okay, good. Hey, where’s your lunch?” Alex asked, realizing that Jack wasn’t eating anything.  
“Oh, I forgot to get something this morning,” Jack replied.  
“Do you want some of my food?” Alex offered.  
“I think I’m good. I had some nerves from my test, so I’m not really hungry right now,” Jack explained. He didn’t totally lie, his stomach did hurt a bit, but not for that reason. They spent the rest of lunch talking about that evening. Well, it was mostly Alex talking and Jack replying only if he really had to. His throat was really starting to hurt and talking made it feel so much worse. Jack only had two more classes after lunch, but they were very hard for him to get through. He almost fell asleep again in his sixth period, and by the end of his last class, he had a cough that only kept getting worse as time went on. He drove home, then quickly went inside, feeling cold from his fever and the late October weather. He grabbed a glass of water before going back to his room. He didn’t even bother changing before climbing into his bed, he just wanted to be warm and comfortable for the first time all day. He wrapped himself in his covers as tightly as he could and turned on his TV. He ended up putting on a movie channel that was showing a Disney Halloween movie. He put the remote on his bedside table, and picked up his phone, and saw a text from Alex.  
Alex: Hey dude! I’ll see you at six thirty with some burgers! I’m super excited for later!   
Jack sent back a smiley face before sighing. He felt absolutely terrible and had no idea how he was going to make it through a whole night of partying. He hadn’t felt this sick in quite a while, and he was still super angry that his body picked today of all days to get the flu. Deciding that sleep might help him feel at least a little better, he turned off his phone, and fell asleep almost instantly, shivering and his teeth chattering.  
\--------  
It was right before six thirty when Alex pulled into the Barakat’s driveway. He had their food in one hand, and a bag with their costumes in the other. He pulled out the housekey that Jack had given him a long time ago, and let himself in. When he got in, the first thing that he heard was the sound of someone coughing. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, and followed the direction the noise was coming from, which ended up leading him to Jack’s room. Alex opened the door, and his heart sank from what he saw. Jack was laying in his bed, in the middle of another coughing fit. A bunch of used tissues were scattered around him in his bed, and Alex could see that Jack was sweating, but had goosebumps on his arms at the same time. Jack tried to calm himself when he noticed Alex had walked in. Alex quickly sat down everything that he was holding and went over to Jack. He sat next to his friend and put his hand on Jack’s back until the fit went away.  
“You’re sick, aren’t you?” Alex asked, putting together Jack’s behavior from the school day, and now.  
“No, I’m fine, just some water going down the wrong-“ Jack cut himself off by coughing again. Alex tried to help calm him again, then gave him the glass of water that was sitting by his bed.  
“Jack, I can obviously see that you’re sick. I thought something was up at school today, but I wasn’t totally sure until right now. You know what that means, we can have a Halloween themed movie night tonight!” Alex exclaimed, smiling the same big smile that he’d been smiling all day earlier.  
“No, I’m fine, let’s get ready to go to the party,” Jack said, before sneezing. Alex went to Jack’s bathroom, and grabbed the thermometer, and gave it to Jack.  
“101.8, Jack, why did you go to school today? You’re clearly really sick,” Alex stated.  
“I didn’t want to let you down,” Jack replied in a small voice.  
“Let me down?” Alex asked.  
“Dude, you love Halloween, and we’ve had these plans to go to this party for like a month now, and you’ve been extremely excited for it since you got us invited to it. I didn’t want to let you down just because I got sick on the worst day possible. So, I went to school, because I knew that if I stayed home, my mom wouldn’t let me go out tonight,” Jack explained, blowing his nose.  
“Jack, I’m not mad, not at all, I’m surprised you even think that I would be,” Alex said, starting to see how upset Jack was over this.  
“But I ruined our night. It’s literally Halloween on a Friday, the thing you’ve always wanted, and we were going to the biggest party in our grade, and I know you’ve worked hard on our costumes that you’ve been so excited to show me ever since you came up with the idea,” Jack explained, hugging his blanket closer around himself.  
“Jack, it’s okay, we all get sick. Hell, we both know that I do a lot, but I’m not mad at you over this, it’s not like you can control it,” Alex replied gently.  
“I’m still really sorry that I can’t go now. You should still go to the party though, since it’ll probably be really fun,” Jack suggested, coughing again.  
“And leave you here all by yourself when you’re this sick? Absolutely not dude. Honestly, I figured that I would get sick tonight since I always seem to get sick at the worst times, so I made a list of Halloween movies that we could watch instead. I think you own almost all of them, and they’re probably all on Netflix anyway,” Alex explained.  
“Are you sure that you don’t want to go? I don’t want you to feel like you have stay here with me,” Jack asked again.  
“One hundred percent sure. Besides, Mario wouldn’t look right without Luigi,” Alex replied with a small smile.  
“That’s what we were going to be?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, but I made them look really cool. I think they turned out cooler than they sound,” Alex explained.  
“I think that sounds really cool. I’m sorry we can’t wear them now,” Jack replied.  
“No need to apologize, dude. Do you know why I love Halloween so much?” Alex asked.  
“Candy, dressing up, and lots of partying?” Jack questioned back.  
“No dude, I love it because we always spend I together, usually at some party or something. Or, like a couple of years ago when this was reversed. I was the sick one and you stayed with me, took care of me, and watched a bunch of movies with me. Remember that?” Alex remembered.  
“Yeah, I do, that night was actually really fun. Hey, thank you, Alex. You really are the best friend ever,” Jack said, making both of them smile.  
“Of course, Jack. How’s your stomach feeling? I did bring that McDonalds that we talked about earlier, and we can eat it if you’re up to it,” Alex suggested.  
“I think it’ll be fine, want to eat it here?” Jack asked, pointing to his bed.  
“Sounds good, but move those off the bed first, it’s gross,” Alex said, talking about Jack’s collection of used tissues.  
“Like you don’t do the same thing when you’re sick,” Jack mumbled, putting them into a trash bin. Alex grabbed the food and took his shoes off before climbing into Jack’s bed. It felt very warm inside due to Jack’s fever, but he did his best to get comfortable. They finished up the movie that Jack had been watching while they ate. Once they’d finished their dinner, Alex threw away the trash, then got back into the bed. Jack snuggled into his side as quickly as he could, making Alex smile. After scrolling through their choices on Netflix, Alex put on The Nightmare Before Christmas.  
“I love this movie!” Jack exclaimed.  
“I know, that’s why I picked it,” Alex replied, making Jack smile. Alex pressed play, and they began to watch the movie. About twenty minutes in, Jack sat up, and burst into a very painful sounding coughing fit. Alex held him close until the fit subsided.  
“I hate this so much,” Jack groaned.  
“I know, being this sick sucks. But, it’ll all go away soon, don’t worry,” Alex said, wrapping his arm around Jack.  
“I want it to go away now, though,” Jack replied. He had a habit of being a bit of a baby whenever he was unwell.  
“I know you do, but this is probably going to take at least a couple of days, but I’ll be here to help you feel better and take care of you until it’s gone, I promise,” Alex stated.  
“No way, dude, you have the worst immune system ever, I don’t want to get you sick,” Jack replied.  
“I’ll be fine, you’re my main priority right now. I know how shitty you feel, and whenever I’ve had you around when I’ve felt that bad, it makes it less shitty. Now, I can return the favor,” Alex said back.  
“As long as you’re careful,” Jack replied.  
“I will be, don’t worry. You should try to go to sleep, it might help you some. I’ll be right here next to you when you wake up. I think I’ll just sleep over tonight, it’ll be easier,” Alex decided.  
“Thank you so much, you’re the best, Alex,” Jack said, snuggling deeper into Alex.  
“No problem, man. Now, get some rest,” Alex replied. Not much later, Jack was fast asleep. The two of them spent the rest of the evening like this. It might not have been the Halloween they had in mind, but they were still together, and that was all that really mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I wrote this all on October 29, 2018. Usually, stories take me a few days to write, but I did this one all at once! I hope you liked it, this is one of my favorite stories I’ve ever written! Send in requests if you have them! Happy Halloween! -Liv.  
> PS- I'll be writing more holiday themed stories this holiday season, because I loved writing this!


End file.
